9 Recipes That Are Way Better With an Egg on Top

by THEDELICIOUS March 15, 2018

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Give your meals an upgrade with the addition of an egg.
Photo Credit: Sara Gim

Go ahead, try to think of one food that isn’t better with an egg in or on it. I’ll often add a beautifully fried or poached egg to a dish not only because that glistening, golden yolk makes the dish very Instagrammable, but also for a deeper, nutrition-based reason. Eggs can boost the protein of an all-plant dish and provide healthy fat to deliver fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K to our systems. And let’s not forget that they add a soft, velvety texture and taste to make a healthy (but otherwise boring) dish that much more enjoyable.

Here are nine dishes, courtesy of @thedelicious, that are pretty good on their own, but even better with the addition of an egg or two.

Breakfast nachos will never be the same once you try this version with sweet potato waffle fries.
Photo Credit: Sarah Gim

Breakfast Nachos With Eggs

Up until now, the best breakfast nachos base I could find was hash browns. Not the julienned potatoes that you saute into a pile of golden glory on your plate, but that giant, flat, golden-fried tater-tot variety made popular by McDonald’s. Those hash browns had a crispness comparable to a chip and the strength to hold every topping mortared to it with melted cheese. But I’ve discovered one that is even better, and that’s sweet potato waffle fries. Used as the base for these nachos, they may be the best option of all. They are crisp and golden like hash browns, but with all the nutritional virtue of sweet potatoes.

Friday-night pizza goes to the next level with the addition of spinach, broccolini and mushrooms.
Photo Credit: Sarah Gim

Pizza With Sunny-Side Up Egg

Not that you ever need an excuse to eat pizza for breakfast, but slipping an egg (or two) onto the middle of a whole pizza is a pro trick. Add both spinach and broccolini to the mix, and then throw the pie under the broiler until the egg whites are just set. This pizza is a happier and healthier way to start the morning than a cold, soggy, leftover slice.

Loaded Smoked Salmon Bagel With Egg

It would be wrong not to put an egg on the most breakfasty of all breakfast foods, the bagel. While there’s already a source of protein from the smoked salmon, the egg, when used in conjunction with the cream cheese, provides the rich, delicious glue that holds the pieces together.

Savory Oatmeal With Poached Eggs

I’ve never really been a “breakfast person,” mostly because breakfast is typically sweet. It makes me think of toast heaped with jam, fruit smoothies and bowls, yogurt and, of course, sweetened oatmeal, which is usually served with toppings like fruit, brown sugar and even chocolate.

Then I realized oatmeal is basically the base of a grain bowl and could be topped with anything I wanted — including all the delicious savory things that typically go on a regular grain bowl. I particularly liked that ever-Instagrammable egg yolk that can be stirred into the oatmeal to make it thicker.

Add an egg to quick and convenient grain bowls for a much-appreciated dose of protein.
Photo Credit: Sarah Gim

Grain Bowl With Soft-Boiled Eggs

Most grain bowls are all grains and plants and, to keep things convenient and fast, don’t always have an additional protein that requires longer cooking like chicken or fish. A soft-boiled egg is a source of protein that is as quick and convenient to cook as vegetables, and the soft yolk provides some much-appreciated sauciness to the bowl.

Pesto and eggs come together over a bed of zucchini noodles for a dinner done right.
Photo Credit: Sarah Gim

Pesto Zucchini Noodle Pasta With Soft-Boiled Eggs

Pesto pasta not only gets a healthy shot of fat from the addition of both an avocado and egg, but when the soft yolk spills out of the poached egg and mixes with the pesto, it makes for a far more interesting and creamier sauce. What’s more, the dish is made with pasta-like ribbons of zucchini, which means it’s low in carbs and high in protein.

Ramen with zucchini noodles and an egg is a lighter version of the Asian favorite.
Photo Credit: Sarah Gim

Vegetable Ramen With Zucchini Noodles

Ramen is exactly the kind of warm, cozy bowl of comfort you want when it’s chilly out, but the thick, fatty, pork bone broth that’s currently popular might be a little too much, especially when paired with starchy ramen noodles.

Swap out the usual wheat-based ramen noodles with spiralized zucchini noodles, and make shio (salt) or shoyu-based (soy sauce) broth as the base, which is still traditional, but much lighter in both texture and calories. Adding soft-boiled eggs to the bowl adds a nutritious richness, especially if the softest part of the yolks spills out and mixes with the soup.

Mushroom Toast With Fried Egg

It’s 2018. Time to move on from our obsession with avocado toast — to mushroom toast, and not just for the sake of being new, but for the vitamins B and D, selenium and antioxidants that mushrooms of every kind provide. The egg on top is important beyond just its pretty pop of yellow. The yolk provides essential, healthy fat that is the vehicle for fat-soluble vitamin D to get into our systems.

Kale Caesar With Poached Eggs

Caesar salad dressing is usually made with raw egg, which is what helps give the dressing its creamy consistency. I love a soft, velvety egg yolk as much as the next person, but fully raw is a little too, well, raw for my taste. Instead, use a vinaigrette type of dressing that relies heavily on whisking or shaking to emulsify the ingredients, and then add a poached egg to the salad. The egg will be soft enough that the yolk can mix with the vinaigrette to make a sort of “in the bowl” Caesar dressing without it being fully raw.